In the ranks of Spain, who won the EC gold, you can find decisive power on a wide front, even behind the brightest stars. Real Sociedad scored the winning goal in a tight quarter-final against Germany Mikel Merino.
In the final match, the championship was sealed by Merino’s teammate and namesake Mikel Oyarzabal27, who hit the 2-1 goal on the scoreboard just a few minutes before the final whistle.
– I just said a moment ago that he has remained gray in this tournament. It’s not gray anymore. Now he’s a pretty bright guy, Urheilu’s expert Erkka V. Lehtola beamed on ‘s broadcast.
As usual, Oyarzabal became the captain in the second half as a center forward Alvaro Morata in place of. For the first time in the tournament, he managed to score at the most important possible moment.
– I did my job, which I had to do every moment. I had to help the team and I was lucky enough to be able to secure the win. When you get over the hard times, being here is appreciated a lot, and when you can help like I could, that’s the best, hero set the mood.
Due to a knee injury, Oyarzabal had to be on the sidelines for long periods of time from the club and national team in 2021–2022.
Before his first European championship, Oyarzabal also experienced a bitter defeat in February, when Sociedad bowed out in the Spanish Cup semi-final to Mallorca, the tail end of La Liga, at the end of the penalty shootout.
Oyarzabal, who shot first, was the only player who failed in the penalty shootout. Half a year later, he was making Spain the only team to win four European championships.
– It has been part of the story. The hurt, all the things I’ve had to endure to bring us this immense joy… I’m really happy and proud of everyone. We spent 45 days in the tournament, this is a family where everyone is equal, this is incredible.
Morata told El Mundo after the quarter-final against Germany that he would be happy to train with the substitutes.
– I think it is important that those who play less feel important. I am sure that Oyarzabal, Joselu or Ayoze Perez is going to score a really important goal, Spain captain guessed from the beginning of the week.
Loyal and big
Oyarzabal has spent his entire career at Real Sociedad, which began in 2016, at the top adult level. The Spanish champion team had no fewer than five men from Sociedad and three from another Basque club, Athletic Bilbao.
– I think it’s a matter of pride. The fact that such a small place has so much representation is a good thing in my opinion. We are all trying to help the team and hopefully achieve our goals, Sociedad captain said in the beginning of June.
In addition to exceptional commitment to consequences, Oyarzabal is surprisingly well-educated as a professional soccer player.
He has Degree in business administration and management from the University of Deusto. In addition, the Spanish hero has bigger feet than usual, as his shoe number is 47.
Oyarzabal started football in the team of his hometown Eibar, until he moved to the juniors of Real Sociadad in 2011.
The talented player broke into the national team after only ten matches played in Real Sociedad’s reserve team, when the British coach David Moyes decided to give the young man a chance in 2015.
The Sociadad star reached the under-21 European Championship in 2019. The brightest crown of the club team’s career is the victory of the Spanish Cup in the 2019-2020 season, when he scored the decisive goal in the final.
On Sunday, he wrote his name among the deciders of Europe’s most prestigious national team tournament.